Hello, friends and family!
Hope everything is good back at home in the mission field! Pretty good week her in Esmeraldas, Ecuador!
Tuesday. Today we were able to pass by the house of Paula again, and she just told us straight up that she really wants to get baptized. She basically told us straight up what she has to do to get baptized. And all it is, she has to get married. She wants to get married but her husband doesn't really care about the church (he's a member.) So we talked to her about the power of prayer as a family and how that can help them as a family be united. After, we had another lesson with Xomaira, and we were able to teach her some things about when Jesus came here to the Americas. She loved it and finally accepted the baptismal question. So that was an awesome lesson with her. I'm excited to be able to teach her again. We ended the day contacting for three hours haha. We couldn't find anybody...
Wednesday. Today, early in the morning, we went to go and visit Danna and Ninoska so that we could help them get ready for their baptism. They are starting to get really excited for their baptism, so that will be awesome! After, we had to go to the terminal and get Elder Ellsworth because his companion had emergency changes to a different sector and Elder Ellsworth's new companion wasn't going to get to the sector until Friday, so Elder Ellsworth stayed with us until Friday. We started off by contacting a reference that we received, and she was pretty cool. She's from Columbia and almost got baptized about five years ago. So I'm pretty excited about her. WE ended the day talking to some of our investigators about the Book of Mormon. They have had a lot of doubts about it, so we showed them how important it is and how they need to have it in their life. It was such a good lesson. The Spirit was really strong.
Thursday. Today, we started off teaching this one new girl about the importance of Joseph Smith. She has had lots of doubts, so we just promised her to read everyday for five minutes and she will gain a testimony. After, we passed by Paula again and talked to her about a lot of things. Her husband was with us this time, and we were able to talk about their relationship and how they need to get married. They both said that they want to get married! So we are trying to set up an activity so that they can raise some money to get married. The rest of the day was like any other day in the mission--looking for people to teach in the burning heat. BUT we were able to find one person this time, so I'm excited to be able to go back and teach her again. Also, I completed 9 MONTHS here in the mission today. Time is so crazy! It goes by so fast. I'm feeling a lot better with everything. I'm used to the mission and the schedule now. Spanish is still kind a pain, but I'm getting better every single day, which is good. But more important, my testimony has grown so much. Without doubt, this is the Church of Jesus Christ.
Friday. Today we had an appointment in the morning with a member to meet his family. But it turns out that his family lives outside of our sector, so we won't be able to teach them, which was kind of a bummer. After, we went to the terminal and waited for the Elder Mayberry, the new Elder in our district. He ended up getting there pretty late. So he and Elder Ellsworth went back over to their sector. After, we went to the house of Karen and prepared her for her interview. S he has gotten really scared, but we were able to help her a lot. We ended the day going to the mission call opening of a member. He's going to be going to Guatemala South mission. I'm so excited for him. He's going to be such a good missionary.
Saturday. Today we did a lot of verification with our investigators. We passed by their houses and to make sure that they were reading and to remind them about church. But we also passed by Bismark for the first time in a long time. He told us that he created a group for teenagers that have depression. It's really cool and all, but I just don't understand the guy. He told us that our church is the best church that there is on the planet. But he doesn't want to be baptized hahah. It's so confusing... After, we had the interview of Karen, and we were all excited for her and she did awesome, but she has to do another interview. We talked to her about the interview after, and she said that she wants more time now. So that was a dagger for us, because we know that she is ready. She is just starting to doubt some parts of her testimony...
Sunday. Today we had a Multi-Stake meeting. So we had to go to the Stake Center and we were able to hear from the Area Presidency. It was a great meeting. I learned a lot from it. After, we stopped by the house of Karen to see how she was feeling and she felt all good, and then her mom went crazy haha... Her mom is really Catholic but likes our church, and she just started yelling at us and Karen, saying that she has to learn more and that she doesn't understand what she is doing. So now Karen is doubting even more than she was before... So that was really hard for us. After, we stopped by another investigator that has been progressing, but he's too scared to be baptized, so we just talked to him about the importance of prayer. I felt really good about the lesson and that it will help them as a family get closer. After, we visited some old investigators and they were really excited to see the missionaries again, so I hope that can get them a little more excited to start progressing again.
Some yummy drink of some animal and dirt.
At the beach.
Love, Elder Copeland
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